What makes a photograph rather than a snapshot?

What makes one image a photograph and another merely a snapshot?

Is it entirely composition or subject? Is it technical skill to do with the depth of focus, lens quality and lighting? Does it vary according to whether your image is macro or landscape?

Do enthusiasts have a different perfect image from amateurs? I tend to only loiter around camera sites when I'm in the market to buy one; but on a recent foray, there appeared to be a distinct divide between the amateurs who prefer a sharp, punchy image out of a camera and the pros who prefer the camera to do as little as possible so they can post process. Is this because amateurs can be nervous about over-processing, scared of making their shots look less realistic while pros focus on making the best of it?

Photographs evoke emotion through careful attention to detail, composition and framing of the subject matter; painted carefully with light and shadow.

A snapshot is what an inebriated Uncle Joe shoots at a wedding with his $5 disposable camera.

I'd like to take it a step further and add a few criteria for a snapshot, using a disposable camera for one is a good way to take a snap shot, using a digital camera completely on auto-settings in areas that typically would require other settings, walking down a street for the first time in a city and taking pictures while basically moving is also what i would consider a snapshot.

A photograph I think requires a much longer explanation but basically I think it involves the amount of intent the photographer has to actually compose the shot while taking into account lighting, motion......on and on and on.

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http://www.ct-graphics.com/wildlife/marmot-yellow-2364.html

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